By Jim Balentine

Photo by Devin Goodman – Dgoody Photography

(Mercer,Pa)

On a warm humid evening, Michaels Mercer raceway presented by Sunbelt rentals was able to get in 3/4 of the program as the final feature of the night for the mini stocks was rained out. Rex King Jr. picked up his 11th Mercer modified win in the Michaels memorial BRP modified tour race capturing $3000; Vivian Jones picked up her second IMCA racesaver 305 sprint feature of the year; veteran Billy Adams ended a long dry spell by picking up his first win in the top shelf trucking DIRT 602 crate sportsman feature since 2021; the mini stock feature was rained out and will be run first next week.

The King family goes back almost as far as the Michaels family at Mercer to the 1970s in the old coupe division and tonight in the Michaels memorial BRP modified tour feature for $3000 a great field of 28 big block modified was on hand to do battle. 

Brad Rapp and Rick Regalski would lead the field to green for 35 laps. Rapp would lead the first lap and then Regalski would overtake Rapp on lap 2. King Jr. from his 5th starting spot would battle Rapp for a few laps until overtaking him on lap 9 and set his sites on Regalski. King would take the lead On lap number 10 and Canada’s Tyler Willard, and New York‘s Eric Rudolph would be racing for 4th and 5th until Rudolph moved into third on lap 19. Last night’s winner at Lernerville Garrett Krummert would move into 5th by lap 25 while King was out to a 5 second lead until two cautions would bunch up the field. on lap 30 Krummert would move into second place but Rudolph would come back and take 2nd on lap 31. Rudolph would run out of time as King Jr. would win by 2.29 seconds. Krummert would finish 3rd; Rapp 4th and Tyler Willard 5th. Rodney Beltz was the hard charger moving up 8 positions from 22nd to finish 14th. A jubilant King Jr. would say “I’m not good in the slick but I was going high where the sprints run and I felt I was slowing down at the e end and I saw Rudolph and Krummert coming up especially with that last caution. It’s great winning the Michaels memorial!! We go back here a long time… I remember sitting in turn 4 watching my dad with Tommy Kristyak and Lou Blaney racing so it’s real special!! I have to thank the Michaels family for keeping this track open and giving us a place to race”

Last years IMCA racesaver 305 sprint champion Vivian Jones picked up her 2nd win in a row and with her 6th career win moved her into 10th all time out of 46 drivers who have won in this division since 2011. Mike Mathieson would have his best finish in some time finishing 2nd, Aaron Marano a career best 3rd, Joe Coggin and Jazlyn Boyles would round out the top 5. Jones would say, “any car here can win any week and I am so fortunate I’m here. It’s always a challenge trying different things we ran good at Lernerville last week and it’s a great class!”

The Topshelf trucking DIRT 602 crate sportsman modifieds went down to the wire once again. Gage Priester and Billy Adams would bring the field to green as Priester would lead the first 4 laps until Adams would get around for the lead. Positions three through five would often go through wide throughout the feature event as Caden Petry, Brian Schaffer, and last time winner Eric Gabany would battle lap after lap. Schaffer would run in 2nd until spinning with 5 laps to go bringing out the caution. On the restart Petry would take 2nd on lap 15 over Gabany while chasing Adams. Gabany would pull back into 2nd on lap 18 then the caution came out bunching up the field one more time. Atoms would then again take off on the start and hold Gabany off to pick up his first win since June 2021 by .419. Petry would finish 3rd, Jordan Ehrenberg 4th, and Pat Lane 5th. An emotional Adams in victory lane would say “I saw Eric start beside me on that restart and I know he’s good so I went high and it worked out. It’s been 4 years since I won here and I have been here each night since except for one so it’s great!!! 

The King’s forestry products SCDRA mini stock feature was rained out and will be run next week to start the program.

Media Results for 7/19/2025 at Michaels Mercer Raceway – Mercer, PA

Racesaver 305 Sprints 7 Entries

A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:11:03.936

1. 20M-Vivian Jones[4]; 2. 72-Mike Mathieson[3]; 3. 34M-Aaron Marano[1]; 4. 71-Joe Coggin[5]; 5. 30-Jazlyn Boyles[6]; 6. 15-Lacey Shuttleworth[7]; 7. 25-Jarrett Rosencrance[2]

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:00.655

1. 20M-Vivian Jones[1]; 2. 25-Jarrett Rosencrance[3]; 3. 72-Mike Mathieson[6]; 4. 34M-Aaron Marano[2]; 5. 71-Joe Coggin[7]; 6. 30-Jazlyn Boyles[5]; 7. 15-Lacey Shuttleworth[4]

Dirt Big Block Modifieds 28 Entries

A Feature 1 35 Laps | 00:15:51.574

1. 165-Rex King Jr[5]; 2. 25-Erick Rudolph[9]; 3. 29-Garrett Krummert[4]; 4. 11R-Brad Rapp[1]; 5. 777-Tyler Willard[7]; 6. 18-Colton Walters[11]; 7. 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[6]; 8. 14S-Justin Shea[12]; 9. 13-Rick Regalski Jr[2]; 10. 61-Dave Murdick[10]; 11. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[15]; 12. 25B-Steve Barr[3]; 13. X-Jeremy Paup[16]; 14. 64-Rodney Beltz[22]; 15. 27M-Hayden Holden[8]; 16. 86R-Rob Curtis[17]; 17. 35-Steve Slater[20]; 18. 27R-Dave Reges[14]; 19. 3K-Shawn Kozar[24]; 20. 9-Cameron Miller[25]; 21. 55-Gage Priester[19]; 22. (DNS) 20P-Mike Kinney; 23. (DNS) 5A-Austin Eyler; 24. (DNS) 18W-Jeff Walters; 25. (DNS) 60-Tom Holden

Heat 1

1. 27M-Hayden Holden[2]; 2. 61-Dave Murdick[1]; 3. 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[3]; 4. 20P-Mike Kinney[7]; 5. 86R-Rob Curtis[4]; 6. 18W-Jeff Walters[5]; 7. 1R-Brandon Ritchey[6]

Heat 2 | 00:04:54.000

1. 165-Rex King Jr[7]; 2. 18-Colton Walters[4]; 3. 9-Cameron Miller[3]; 4. 25B-Steve Barr[2]; 5. 27R-Dave Reges[6]; 6. (DNS) 28H-Jimmy Holden; 7. (DNS) 5A-Austin Eyler

Heat 3

1. 25-Erick Rudolph[1]; 2. 14S-Justin Shea[4]; 3. 13-Rick Regalski Jr[5]; 4. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[6]; 5. 55-Gage Priester[3]; 6. (DNS) 64-Rodney Beltz; 7. (DNS) 74-Kevin Green

Heat 4 | 00:03:57.000

1. 11R-Brad Rapp[3]; 2. 29-Garrett Krummert[5]; 3. 777-Tyler Willard[6]; 4. X-Jeremy Paup[1]; 5. 35-Steve Slater[2]; 6. 60-Tom Holden[4]; 7. 3K-Shawn Kozar[7]

Mini Stocks King’s Forestry 10 Entries

Heat 1 6 Laps | 00:03:49.059

1. 13S-Chaz Smith[1]; 2. 12-Carl Ealy[2]; 3. 10JOK-Bill Fuchs[4]; 4. 9R-Ben Aley[5]; 5. 5-Andy Thompson[3]

Heat 2 6 Laps | 00:02:03.630

1. 38-Randy Ealy[1]; 2. 40C-Joe Campbell[4]; 3. 60-Dillon Thorne[2]; 4. 45-Andrew Thompson[5]; 5. 55-Josh Eakman[3]

DIRT 602 Crate Sportsman Top Shelf Trucking 17 Entries

A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:12:24.333

1. 717-Bill Adams[2]; 2. 318-Eric Gabany[6]; 3. 7P-Caden Petry[9]; 4. JD57-Jordan Ehrenberg[8]; 5. 12L-Patrick Lane[10]; 6. 71-Gage Priester[1]; 7. 29-Cole Edwards[4]; 8. 29A-Anthony Antus[7]; 9. 77-Tommy Kristyak[13]; 10. 41-Brian Schaffer[5]; 11. 10S-Trevn Schaffer[15]; 12. 113-Parker Cornelius[17]; 13. 1X-Ryan Riffe[3]; 14. 10-Jim Bryce[11]; 15. 56M-Jacob McElravy[16]; 16. 119-Joe Gibson[12]; 17. (DNS) 93-Phill Kapcewich

Heat 1 8 Laps

1. 41-Brian Schaffer[5]; 2. 318-Eric Gabany[6]; 3. 1X-Ryan Riffe[2]; 4. 29A-Anthony Antus[1]; 5. 7P-Caden Petry[7]; 6. 10-Jim Bryce[4]; 7. 77-Tommy Kristyak[3]; 8. 10S-Trevn Schaffer[9]; 9. 113-Parker Cornelius[8]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:26.306

1. 71-Gage Priester[2]; 2. JD57-Jordan Ehrenberg[4]; 3. 29-Cole Edwards[3]; 4. 717-Bill Adams[5]; 5. 12L-Patrick Lane[6]; 6. 119-Joe Gibson[8]; 7. 93-Phill Kapcewich[7]; 8. 56M-Jacob McElravy[1]